Since the beginning of car sales, we have tried to find that elusive balance between holding gross and increasing volume.

OEMs would love nothing more than to have an army of sales professionals whose sole focus was moving product- so much so, many of them have decreased profit margin to all time lows in the name of “customer satisfaction”; leaving dealerships with fewer and fewer ways to generate revenue.

So how do we continue to hold gross in a climate that has very little of it to hold? TRADE -IN VALUE!

OAK BROOK, IL (May 21, 2010) – vAuto, Inc. announces its used car inventory management system is now available as an application for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch.

“We recognize that our dealers need the ability to access our real-time market information wherever they are,” says Keith Jezek, president and CEO. “We decided to develop our mobile application initially for the Apple devices because they are the preferred mobile devices for web searching activities.”

Live market appraising is the first vAuto module developed as a mobile application for no additional monthly subscription charge for vAuto users. It is available for download from the App Store on iTunes.

All vAuto customers now have the opportunity to utilize the fully integrated market based appraising functionality from their Apple touch device. In addition to traditional third-party guidebooks and auction values, the application features vAuto’s exclusive rBook, which allows customers to appraise with the mindset of “how to get out of a car before you get in.” The mobile application functionality also includes the proprietary barcode VIN capture method that automatically decodes and uploads to vAuto.

“The vAuto mobile application saves me a tremendous amount of time while at auctions,” notes Bill Pearson, owner of Finishline Ford in Peoria, IL. “Its design is consistent with the Velocity Method of Management – access to live market data down to the level of trim and equipment combined with used car market days supply, allowing us to make the critical decisions on what to stock and how much to pay.”

Headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, IL., vAuto also maintains a research and development center in Austin, Texas. The company’s “Live Market View” technology currently allows more than 3,000 dealers to manage their used-car inventories based on comprehensive supply-and-demand information mined by vAuto for their specific market area. Details on millions of pre-owned vehicles are maintained and updated on a daily basis within vAuto’s database.

The nation’s five highest-volume franchised dealerships by brand currently use vAuto pricing, appraisal, stocking, and merchandising systems. vAuto was recently ranked number 22 in Inc. Magazine’s 2009 annual ranking of the fastest- growing, privately held companies in America. The company’s chairman and founder, Dale Pollak maintains a blog for the discussion of used-car trends at www.dalepollak.com. More information on vAuto is available at www.vAuto.com.

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Editors

Jeff Kershner

I’m the founder of DealerRefresh. I got my start in the dealer business when I was 18. From there I've worked throughout several departments within fixed to variable ops. Whether it’s managing the desk, perfecting sales process or studying online marketing and media trends, I absolutely love this business and the challenges it brings. On top of keeping up with DealerRefresh, I consult with dealerships and key industry businesses. My passion has been and continues to be helping dealers leverage new media to sell and improve customer service.

Alex Snyder

2019 marks Alex's 30th year in the car business. In that time he has had a front-row seat for the rise of the Internet and has been working to bring the online and offline dealership experience closer. Whether you knew him from his life at Checkered Flag or his years with Dealer.com/DealerTrack/Cox Alex has remained an opinionated DealerRefresh contributor who enjoys nothing more than to poke at the unsaid truths in our industry. He also helped found FRIKINtech.